Another morsel from Orison Swett Marden

It so amazes me that in this world, no matter how the times may change, some things remain the same with our human kind:

“Every deed we perform has a tongue in it which betrays its origin, and prophesies our future. Every act is a guideboard that tells the world which way we have gone along. The light we give betrays the oil we use. However discreet we may be, we sometimes leave the heart’s doors ajar, and our most secret thoughts steal out and betray us. Our premeditated acts point to what we seem to be, but our spontaneous deeds point to what we are. The great battles of life are fought in the heart, yet the world knows when our higher nature has lost or won. The world knows when shame and disgrace have pulled down the chaste banner of virtue and manhood, and raised their own flag there; for we carry in our very faces and bearing the record of our defeats and victories. As truly as the influence of calm or tempest, of sunshine and dew, is stamped upon every fiber of the mountain oak, from pith to bark, so every thought we think, every motive we cherish, writes its autograph indelibly upon every fiber of our lives. Thought externalizes itself. What we think, that we become.”